3D CROSSWALK IN OUTREMONT

City hopes drivers will slow down

The Outremont borough is trying out 3D crosswalks at the intersection of Bernard and Champagneur Aves., aiming to reduce accidents that involve pedestrians by encouraging drivers to slow down.

Two crosswalks were painted in white, black and shades of grey on Tuesday, designed to create an optical illusion that the crosswalks’ white bars are elevated.

“It’s something that’s been done in Europe. Apparently we’re the first in Quebec and Canada to actually do it, so it’s going to be interesting to see if, statistically, it actually does reduce the number of accidents,” said Mindy Pollak, an Outremont borough councillor.

Valérie Patreau, an Outremont councillor, said the borough chose that corner because there have been three severe accidents there involving pedestrians over the past 10 years.

Patreau defined a severe accident as one where the people involved needed to go to a hospital.

The borough councillors said they also considered the amount of traffic when choosing where to try out the 3D crosswalk.

“Van Horne will be redone in a few years, so we’re not going to make major changes there right now. We’ll see what kind of permanent, traffic-calming measures we can do.

“And on Côte- Ste-Catherine, it’s practically a highway, so it’s a very different situation,” Pollak said.

“Here, the traffic is slower, so it’s a good place to test this,” Patreau said.

The cost of painting one of the 3D crosswalks is $1,590.50, bringing the price of the borough’s pilot project to $3,181, according to Sylvain Leclerc, who works in communications for the Outremont borough.

The cost of painting a regular crosswalk is $84, Leclerc said.

“There is more work and time needed for 3D, which is why it is more costly,” Leclerc said.

The borough hired a road marking company to carry out the project.

Pollak and Patreau said they are still working out the details of how they will assess whether the 3D crosswalks are successful. They plan to review data on accidents collected by Montreal police, and conduct a survey among pedestrians in the neighbourhood.

“There are no specific studies on this at the moment. It’s more at a test level in Europe mainly, which is where we saw it. We would like to innovate on security, so we decided to test it in Outremont,” Patreau said.

There are no specific studies on this at the moment. It’s more at a test level in Europe mainly, which is where we saw it.

ALLEN MCINNIS A city worker puts the finishing touches on a freshly painted 3D crosswalk in Outremont on Tuesday. The optical illusion is intended to slow traffic and increase pedestrian safety.